Baby boo continues to make connections, and pretty elaborate ones at that. While reading her first words book, whenever she pointed at the yo-yo, she’d run across the room to the balloon we got at my reunion last week. It’s roundish, and it has a string: it’s a yo-yo. I was impressed by that. It was the same thing when she pointed at the picture of the crayons – she ran for the sidewalk chalk. They may not exactly be crayons, but they’re crayon shaped and you draw with them. Very good decuctive reasoning.
She made another connection with the pudding I made on Saturday She rubbed her hands in it, and then she rubbed her face with it. I could not imagine what she could be doing until DH asked her if she was rubbing lotion on herself. That was it exactly! Vanilla pudding has a similar color and consistency as the sunscreen I’m always trying to put on her. If it looks like sunscreen and it feels like sunscreen, it must be sunscreen. What’s more natural than to rub it all over your face?
DH missed his baby girl this weekend. He was on call, so he had very little Kathleen time. He was quite happy when she fell asleep on him last night. And when she runs to him, or lays her head on his shoulder or wraps her arm around his neck while he’s holding her, he melts. She has him right where she wants him. Just wait until she turns 16 . . . :)
Since he was on call this weekend and the weather was warm, Kathleen and I spent a lot of time outside. We took walks. We played in the sandbox. We got soaked under the spigot on the patio. We splashed in the water table on the deck. We picked rose petals (our rose bushes haven't a chance). It was a very nice weekend. I didn’t get much done – par for the course – but I did spend some quality time with my daughter and make a few memories. The chores will still be here tomorrow, but my baby girl keeps growing up.
I have no idea how tall she is. I'm curious, though. Looking at the growth charts, between 19 and 20 months, girls are approximately at 50% of their full adult height. I measured her, but I'm coming up anywhere from 3/4 of an inch shorter or taller than she was at the pediatrician's in April. She's shorter if I measure her standing up. I wonder if due to a toddler's stance at this age - the sway back, belly out stance - this is why the pediatrician measures her lying down. Assuming the supine measurements are more accurate, she's either 33 or 33-1/2 inches. That puts her around 5'6" or 5'7" at her final height.
She continues to eat better at daycare than she does at home. She seems to be more willing to experiment there. We offer her variety continually at home as the "experts" all dictate, but she still gravitates toward her bread, cereal, milk, cheese, occasional pasta, and much to her daddy's delight, ground burger (although this only started within the last month). They say she won't let herself starve. They say that once she becomes accustomed to seeing something (20, 30, or more times), she'll eventually try it. Humph. I don't know what we're doing wrong, if anything, but as long as she's eating somewhere, I'll be satisfied.
I have to say that I miss The Wonder Weeks, the book that discusses developmental spurts, what to expect before, during, and after, and when to expect them during the first 18 months. That knowledge was invaluable. Knowing why she was clingier, grumpier, moodier, more demanding, not sleeping well, prone to fits - a toddler squared - helped us keep our perspective and understanding intact. Now, we need to decide whether those episodes are due to a developmental spurt or if she's not feeling well, if her routine is out-of-whack, if she's sleepy, if her teeth are bothering her, and so on. There must be another spurt between 18 and 24 months. When? That's not to say that Kathleen is misbehaving, but I'm still trying to understand what it was that was bothering her late May through last week.
You know, it could have been a spurt. The associations she's making are becoming more complex. She's also doing so much better using her spoon and drinking out of a normal cup or water bottle (not perfect by a long shot, but better). Still, I'd love to know for certain.
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